Decolonising Design Research through Participatory Knowledge Creation

Latin American Studies and decolonisation scholar Nelson Maldonado-Torres defines
decoloniality as “the dismantling of relationships of power and conceptions of
knowledge that foment the reproduction of racial, gender, and geo-political
hierarchies that came into being or found new and more powerful forms of expression
in the modern/colonial world.” (2006:117). 309 years of patriarchal colonial rule and
60 years of segregationist legislation through apartheid are not easily overcome in 22
years of South African democracy. Although a rather opaque reflection of the lived
experience of the majority of South Africans, our country is currently ranked on the
Gini Coefficient as one of the most unequal societies in the world (The World Bank,
2006). Even as an oblique index, it helps provide a small glimpse into the social
inequality that currently underpins South African higher education.